VANCOUVER — First came the feast, as Canada’s World Cup team gorged on goals against Qatar in BC Place Stadium.

Then came the party.

Fans at the arena in Vancouver and at watch parties across the country erupted after the historic 6-0 win, the first victory for Canada’s men’s team at a World Cup.

Joshua Walters, who lives 10 minutes from the stadium, said he thought the match would provide Canada’s first win, after a draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina last week.

But he called the 6-0 win against Qatar “unbelievable.”

“This is a crazy win. Monumental win. Historic victory.”

Vancouver draped itself in red for its first home-team match of the tournament. The atmosphere was electric, not just in the arena, but the entire downtown core.

Before the historic win, thousands of Canadian fans joined the “last mile” march to the stadium with the Voyageurs supporters group, blowing trumpets, beating drums, and waving flags and smoke canisters.

There was a full house of 52,497 fans in attendance, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was seen sitting beside Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.

It was overwhelmingly loud inside the stadium, where screaming Canada fans hit 149 decibels just before the 3 p.m. kickoff, according to the big screen.

Local fans may have been hoping for a win but few could have expected the rout that puts Canada well on course to progress beyond the tournament’s group stage.

“I thought we’d win, but that was special,” said Samir Shah from Vancouver, who was in the stadium with his son, Ishan.

He said watching Canada’s first World Cup victory had been on his bucket list.

There was also a packed house in the PNE amphitheatre at the FIFA Fan Festival in East Vancouver, where total tournament attendance surged past the 100,000 mark, after hitting 98,000 on Wednesday.

Josh Hatzenbuhler from Toronto called it “the greatest atmosphere I’ve ever been in.”

“I haven’t seen that before with Canada, and it’s just so nice to see them move the ball like that and dominate the game. Amazing,” said Hatzenbuhler, who has played soccer since he was six.

Canada fan Duncan Mackey had taken the instruction to wear red to the extreme, getting his teenage son and his friends to paint his bald head in the home team’s colour.

He marched to the stadium with the Voyageurs and said the atmosphere was “phenomenal.”

“It’s not that often when you see 10,000 people in red, all walking together, so it’s good to see,” he said.

Mackey, from Lethbridge, Alta., added that he was impressed by how Vancouver had “come alive” for the World Cup.

Granville Street, the entertainment strip that has been pedestrianized for the World Cup and has become a party hub for fans, was packed shoulder to shoulder after the match.

Qatari Abdullah Alajji, walking through the crowd in his flowing white thobe, as Arabic robes are known, congratulated Canada on its decisive win, while bemoaning his team’s performance that he flew 16 hours to watch.

“Today was the worst match they’ve played in Qatar history,” he said. “I don’t know what happened today. Something wrong today is happening.”

Noor Kamel said she is originally from Yemen and sat with Qatar’s fans, but Canada was also “in my heart.”

The former Vancouver resident, who used to live in Qatar but now lives in Burnaby, said she scored a free ticket to the match in a lottery by Qatari authorities.

Dressed with a Qatari flag as a sash, she said before the match that she was more interested in “the vibe and to celebrate diversity.”

“I’ll cheer for both, Canada and Qatar. It’s a game at the end of the day,” she said, adding that she was “so proud” of Vancouver’s performance hosting the World Cup.

“Good luck for all the teams, actually,” she says, calling the tournament “a celebration for the world.”

Qatar’s fans had staged a small-but-vocal supporters march on Wednesday evening, chanting to the beat of traditional darbuka drums as they set off from a hotel near the stadium.

Toronto’s FIFA Fan Festival ran into another weather-related problem on Thursday, with organizers saying the site wouldn’t open until two hours before kickoff because more time was needed to prepare following recent severe weather.

But the mood was electric in Fort York and at Stackt Market as fans erupted with every goal.

The Canada-Qatar match was the second of seven World Cup matches at BC Place after the stadium’s tournament debut on Saturday between Australia and Turkey.

New Zealand will play Egypt on Sunday in the next match at BC Place, before Canada’s final group-stage encounter against Switzerland next Wednesday.

Jesse Kernan, 50, attended Thursday’s match with his 13-year-old son Rolan. He said Canada’s team had “made history.”

“I’ve been watching soccer, Canadian soccer, for about 40 years and it’s been hard to watch,” he said.

“If you had told me 40 years ago I’d be in the stadium when Canada wins its first World Cup game I would have laughed,” he said. “It’s pretty emotional actually.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, Nono Shen and Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press